This invention generally relates to electronic commerce and, more specifically, to a method and apparatus for creating and ordering personalized branded merchandise over a computer network.
For some time, consumers have been able to purchase merchandise personalized to their own specific tastes. For instance, consumers of all ages have long enjoyed wearing T-shirts with their own personalized message printed on the front or back. However, buying customized goods like T-shirts has never been easy. Typically, a consumer wanting to purchase personalized merchandise would have to make a trip to the mall or store where such merchandise is sold. Once at the store, the consumer would have to wait in line for assistance, and then wait again while the merchandise was being created. Moreover, the consumer would only be able to view the final product after it had already been created. If the product did not look exactly the way the consumer wanted, many times the consumer would be forced to purchase the product anyway. For these reasons, purchasing customized products has not been a pleasant experience for consumers.
Another drawback for consumers wishing to purchase customized merchandise is that the types of goods that may be personalized have traditionally been very limited. For instance, consumers have long been able to purchase personalized T-shirts, but have been unable to purchase customized soda bottles, or other types of goods. Furthermore, consumers have never been able to purchase personalized goods that are branded with a manufacturers"" trademark. For instance, consumers have never been able to purchase a soda bottle exactly the way it would appear on a retailer""s shelf, and have it personalized to their specifications. Because of the brand awareness and goodwill that comes with many types of trade dress and trademarks, consumers are likely be interested in purchasing trademarked goods that can be customized to their specifications. However, there has never been a system available to consumers for purchasing such goods.
Therefore, in light of these problems, there is a need for a method and system for creating and ordering customized branded merchandise that allows a consumer to easily and conveniently purchase merchandise personalized to their own tastes. There is a further need for a method and system for creating and ordering customized merchandise that will allow a consumer to personalize a product with a graphic image and text supplied by the consumer, and to view a preview of the merchandise before it is manufactured. There is an additional need for a method and system for creating and ordering customized merchandise that allows the consumer to purchase merchandise branded with a manufacturer""s trademark, and also personalized with a graphic image and text provided by the consumer.
The present invention solves the above described problems by providing a method and apparatus for creating and ordering customized branded merchandise over a computer network. According to one actual embodiment of the invention, a World Wide Web (xe2x80x9cWWWxe2x80x9d) site is provided that allows a consumer to create and order customized branded merchandise, such as bottles of soda. Advantageously, the WWW site may allow the consumer to upload pictures, text, or other information for inclusion on the requested merchandise. Moreover, once the consumer has specified how the customized merchandise should appear, the WWW site can automate the production of the merchandise and the shipping of the merchandise to the customer.
Generally described, the present invention provides a WWW site for creating and ordering customized branded merchandise. According to an aspect of the invention, a customer may visit the WWW site utilizing a standard WWW browser executing on a computer. Once at the WWW site, the customer may register with the WWW site by providing their name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and other identifying information. A new account may then be created for the customer that the customer may access later by using an assigned password.
Once the customer has registered with the WWW site, the customer may place an order for an item of customized branded merchandise. The customer may be asked to provide a short description of the order for later identification. The customer may also be asked to identify a graphic image for customizing the requested merchandise. The graphic image may be a digital photograph provided by the customer or other type of graphic image. Once the customer has identified a graphic image, the graphic image may be displayed for editing. The customer may be permitted to crop the graphic image or perform other types of image manipulations. A preview of the cropped or manipulated image may also be provided for the customer. Once the customer is satisfied with the graphic image, the graphic image, or information describing any changes made to the image made by the user, may be transmitted to the WWW server.
The customer may also be asked to provide a photo credit for the graphic image. Additionally, the customer may also be asked to provide a text message to be included on the personalized merchandise item. Once this information has been received from the customer, a visual preview of the customized branded merchandise item requested by the customer may be provided. If the customer approves the item, the customer may be asked to provide additional order details, such as quantity, color, and the like.
Once the customer has specified the order details, the customer may be asked to provide a billing and shipping address. The customer may then be asked to identify a payment method, and provide a credit card or other billing number. The customer may then be provided with a summary of the order details and asked to verify that all of the information is correct. If the information is correct, the customized branded merchandise item ordered by the customer will be created and shipped to the customer at the provided address.
According to an actual embodiment of the invention, the customer may request to purchase customized bottles of soda branded with a manufacturer""s trademark from the WWW site. The bottle labels may be customized with the graphic image, text message, and photo credit provided by the customer. Other information provided by the customer may also be included on the bottle labels. Moreover, a trademark, like xe2x80x9cJONES SODA CO.xe2x80x9d, may also be included on the bottle labels. The customer may be able to specify the quantity, flavor, and other product information prior to ordering at the WWW site. Once the labels have been created, the bottles are labeled with the customized branded labels, the customer""s credit card is charged, and the product is shipped to the customer.
In accordance with yet other aspects of the invention, a system, a computer-controlled apparatus, and a computer-readable medium containing instructions are also provided for creating and ordering customized branded merchandise over a computer network.